A Daily Dose of Sea Food Could Shrink Belly Fat and Lead to Improved Health

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by: John M. Yarlott
Tags: sea vegetables, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) Body fatness increases the risk of Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. The majority of American people who are overweight could now lose body fat and prevent future dietary disease by modifying their diets to include seafood. Seafood is rich in Omega 3, good monounsaturated fat (MUFA), vitamins and minerals, and it is low in unhealthy saturated fats.

The Benefits of Monounsaturated Fat (MUFA) in the Daily Diet

Seafood, rich in nutrients, when included in one`s daily diet could result in a slimmer waistline and improved health. For those fortunate enough to enjoy ideal body weight and excellent health, eating seafood on a regular basis may prevent future weight gain and poor health. Recent scientific studies have shown that incorporating foods that contain monounsaturated fat (MUFA) in daily diets with reduced saturated fats (SFA), such as the Mediterranean diet, prevents belly fat (1), (2), (3). Seafood contains both MUFA and SFA but the MUFA level is greater. The Mediterranean diet includes: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, MUFA, olive oil, legumes, fish and red wine. Foods minimized in the Mediterranean diet are: red meat, poultry, dairy products, and saturated fats.

Mortality rates associated with excess omega-6

The risk of heart disease has been shown to increase when the daily diet has an excess of omega-six with respect to omega-3 fatty acids. There are 4 categories of omega fats: n-3 PUFA (short chain omega-3), n-6 PUFA (short chain omega-6), n-3 HUFA (long chain omega-3, and n-6 HUFA (long chain omega-6). An empirical formula was developed that predicts death rates due to coronary heart disease (CHD). Click here (http://jmyarlott.com/mortality/chd/default.a...) for more information on this formula. When the n-6 HUFA calories as a percent of all HUFA calories in a meal equals 78%, the mortality rate per year is predicted to be 162 per 100,000 which corresponds to a typical USA diet. Whereas when it equals 48% the predicted mortality rate is 71 per 100,000 people, which corresponds to the typical Japanese diet. Click here for a list of MUFA and Mortality rates for sea food. The more long chain omega-3 and less long chain omega-6 is in the diet, the lower the CHD mortality rate.

Mercury and minerals in sea food

Caution, mercury occurs in seafood to varying degrees. The mean levels range from a low of .014 PPM (parts per million) to a high of 1.45 PPM. Fish with the highest mean levels include: Tilefish 1.45 PPM, Shark .998 PPM, Swordfish .976, and King Mackerel .730. Mean mercury levels and minerals for 161 fish and shellfish are listed on this web page: ("http://jmyarlott.com/mortality/food_lists/mi... in seafood.asp"). The average mean mercury level for a list of 161 fish and shellfish is approximately 0.1 PPM. (4). In the United States the limit for mercury in commercial marine and freshwater fish is 1.0 parts per million (ppm). In Canada and some states, the limit is lower. Pregnant women should become aware of these limits. For more information on mercury level limits in sea food see this website. (http://www.perinatology.com/exposures/Matern... ).

Vitamins and minerals in sea food

Sea food is a source of Vitamin D and the B vitamins. For a 3.5 Oz. serving these vitamins amount to 20-40% of the total Dietary Reference Index amounts. Sea food is also rich in minerals, especially Phosphorous, Potassium, Zinc, and Copper. To see a list of minerals in sea food, Click here (http://jmyarlott.com/Mortality/Food_Lists/Mi...) for the list of vitamins in sea food Click here. (http://jmyarlott.com/Mortality/Food_Lists/Se...).

References:

1. Paniagua JA, Gallego de la Sacristana A, Romero I, Vidal-Puig A, Latre JM, Sanchez E, Perez-Martinez P, Lopez-Miranda J, Perez-Jimenez F: Monounsaturated fat rich diet prevents central body fat distribution and decreases postprandial adiponectin expression induced by a carbohydrate-rich diet in insulin-resistant subjects. Diabetes Care 30: 1717-1723, 2007.

2. Walker KZ, O`Dea K, Johnson L, Sinclair AJ, Piers LS, Nicholson GC, Muir JG: Body fat distribution and non-insulin-dependent diabetes: comparison of a fiber rich, high-carbohydrate, low-fat (23%) diet and a 35% fat diet high in monounsaturated fat. Am J Clin Nutr 63:254-260, 1996

3. Vaccariello Liz, Sass Cynthia: Flat Belly Diet. Rodale, Inc. 2008

4. Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish. US Dept of Health and Human Services and US Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html).

About the author

John Yarlott developed his writing skills during his career as a Mechanical Engineer with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. His work included testing jet engines and writing the test reports for use by the design and management groups. He later worked at IBM as writer of guides for computer design. He ran technical symposiums and published the hundreds of technical reports on computer packaging. John was also a store systems engineer in IBM marketing where he wrote computer programs for customers that generated reports based on transaction data in the checkout terminals. John's last assignment before retiring was as a technical support engineer for IBM's database software. During retirement he wrote training manuals for Microsoft Office Products at Hill & Knowlton, a division of WPP. He wrote web based data acquisition programs that captured human resources data in a MS Access database. The firm had offices in 52 countries therefore using the Internet to communicate with the database in New York was a time saving solution. Now retired for the second time, John has turned his attention to web publishing about matters of his own interest including health, nutrition, food economics, and global energy on his personal website: http://jmyarlott.com .